Intel breaks ground on China fab

SAN JOSE, Calif.  Intel Corp. on Saturday (Sept. 8) broke ground on its first 300-mm wafer fabrication facility in Asia. The new plant, named Fab 68, is located in the northern China city of Dalian, in the Liaoning Province.

Intel's China fab was originally announced in March. The $2.5 billion project is set to be operational in 2010. It will produce chipsets, based on a 90-nm process. Fab 68 will cover 163,000-square-meters of factory space and host a 15,000-square-meter clean room.

Intel investment in Fab 68 sets its total investment in China to close to $4 billion. Intel has established two assembly and test plants in Shanghai and Chengdu, along with R&D centers and labs in Beijing, Shanghai and elsewhere in China.

"Fab 68 will have world-class infrastructure and be an integral part of our global manufacturing network while bringing us closer to our customers and partners in China," said Craig Barrett, chairman of Intel, in a statement.

"Intel's investment in Fab 68 comes at a time when Dalian's information technology industry is aiming to compete globally and become one of the top three IT clusters in China," said Dalian Mayor Xia Deren, in the same statement.

"Fab 68 is not just bringing advanced chipset manufacturing to Dalian," he said. "Intel's presence will attract investment from virtually every segment of the IC industry, which in turn will have tremendous effect on the region's economy and industries."